The list of awards was published in their September 1999 issue
and
the Awards Banquet was held at the
Museum of Science and Industry
in Chicago Illinois on 23 September 1999.

The Chicago Tribune has called these awards "The Oscars of Invention."
Others have referred
to the R&D 100 Awards as the "Nobel Prizes of Applied Research."
Past winners have included
breakthroughs like
Polacolor film,
the flashcube,
the digital wristwatch,
antilock brakes,
the automated teller machine,
the liquid crystal display,
the halogen lamp,
and the fax machine.